Tangled Fates
by Wallshade
Summary: A story of two Sith on their journey from nothing into greatness.
1. Chapter 1

The shuttle shook as it entered the atmosphere of the red desert planet. In the passenger section the lights were dimmed, only the red on-flight lights casting their shady light on the faces of young men and women sitting on the uncomfortable metal seats. The transport was hit by a violent wind, shaking it roughly, causing people to clutch their seats even tighter and some even gasped with fear.

A green pair of eyes flew around in their sockets at the corner of the room, inspecting and evaluating everyone and everything. Two big young men who looked like brothers with their features like they were made of granite, their hair cut short and sturdy jaw lines. Both looked very uncertain of their surroundings, but seemed to draw strength from the presence of each other. Next up were a group of a short man and two women, all three seemed uncertain as well and were trying to hold a conversation of sort to ease their minds from the nerve cracking tension. And then there was this girl. A short woman sitting on the bench closest to the doorway leading out of the ship, she was light on her frame and had some freckles, yet her hair was abyssal black. Woman's sight was locked on the doorway, her lips pursed toghether softly, peacefully. Her pose was calm, no fear, nor confusion. She knew what was ahead. Well, to be completely honest, everyone here knew _what _was ahead, but what it exactly included, besides many of the people here dying, they did not know.

The inspector carried on his sight to the last passenger, and was slightly startled by what he saw. In the darkness, just opposite to his own seat, there was a male figure in grayish robes, head covered by a hood, but just as his sight rose to meet the hooded figure's face, this lifted face and looked back. The bright red eyes that glared at inspector were filled with passive annoyance and malice, detest. "Keep your eyes to yourself, dog. I don't need your slave-stink attaching itself to my form" the pureblood hissed before looking away again. As did the investigator.

A sith instructor with dark skin walked past him, causing man to lean back and look down as not to draw the attention of the warrior to himself. The sith stopped in front of the woman who looked up at him, her eyes not showing fear despite the presence of powerful figure. "We are landing soon. Here. Use it wisely acolyte. Good luck" the dark skinned man said, handing a small data-chip to pale female. Without a sound, she nodded, attaching the piece to her datapad, the screen lighting up briefly to reveal her olive colored eyes as she read the text which threw a blueish ligh on her face before she turned off the datapad, darkness enveloping her features again. _They are picking favorites this soon? _Inspector questioned himself, not enjoying this knowledge. He knew he had no allies among the sith, being a former slave who had been "freed" to attend this training program. He had no contacts, and it would be an uphill battle against those with better heritage.

The shuttle suddenly slowed down, starting it's landing phase as the vessel began slowly descending down to landing platform. Another sith, a male as well, but with pale skin, reddish brown hair, and very grim look on his face, stepped up and began talking: "Alright you scum, welcome to Korriban, the birthplace of the Sith. I am overseer Harkun, one the two instructors who are supposed to whip you rats into shape that you might one day be considered a sith. We will be landing in a minute and making our way to academy. However, unlike me and overseer Tremel here, you scum don't have the academy passes. And if I am lucky most of you will never have them to begin with. Without passes, the elevators and gates on Korriban will not operate for you, and thus you will go everywhere on foot. In this case, to academy" A cruel grin crossed his lips. A thing investigator would later on learn to hate. "But do not worry, we've arranged a passage for you. As the first test on becoming a sith, you will have the chance to prove you posses an intelligence and tenacity above that of a worm. There is an old tomb located between Academy and landing platform, you will navigate trough this tomb and find your way to other side. Just be mindful that the cool darkness of the tomb makes it popular place for Burrower Hatchlings to escape Korriban's burning hot sun at daytime". A grim silence fell in the room. It was well known that these "worms" were 1-3 meters long and had an apetite for anything and everything. They were usually hunted to extinction from planets in name of safety, but unsurprisingly Siths had let them be on Korriban as a lethal training method. "Don't we get anything to defend ourselves with!?" Someone asked with desperation in voice, a mistake that earned glare from both of the Siths. The dark skinned overseer, Tremel spoke out in turn with calm voice which lacked any compassion: "If you are worthy to become sith, you will come up with a way to deal with enemy. Anything is fair game in the tombs. Improvise a weapons, steal one, be creative. Most of you have no experience using Force efficiently. This will act as an excellent way to test you". Harkun carried on: "And if I hear one more question as pathetic as that, I guarantee the person will not make it out alive even from this shuttle!". For some reason, many glanced at the lightsaber hanging on Sith's belt at these words.

With small bump, the shuttle made it's touchdown, the ramp sliding down and door opening, letting the dry, hot air into the ship. Without a word, grey robed pureblood stood up, making his way out of the shuttle with confidence. It was quite clear he knew what he was doing. Getting up as well, the rest of the group began flooding out, investigator being the last one. Looking around the hall made of rock and metal panels, the red skinned zabrak male let his fingers scratch his small horns located on his forehead and sides of his head. "This will be interesting.." he muttered, painfully aware of the slim chances he had to make it trough this. And the dark brown slave's tattoos marking his face for what he'd been did not make it easier. But now, he had a chance to become something else. And the former slave intended to grasp this chance with both hands. He'd leave behind th life of a slave and become a master. He'd become a Sith!

"Hey, sorry for bothering but..". Cutting his thoughts, he turned around, facing a girl, one the group of three he'd seen on the shuttle. The other girl and boy were there as well, just behind this one that seemed to have most guts and act as spokesman. "Hi, I am Anna. You seem to be alone so we thought you might wanna come with us?" girl asked, giving him a small smile as token of sincerity. "We have better chances surviving, working together". She smiled again, hoping to ease the suspicion and recruit this alien to their group. She had recognized the slave tattoos, and a quick guess had led her to conclusion that since this zabrak was former slave, he must be in good condition, strong. Zabrak were sturdy race, backing a high tolerance for pain and punishment. And with background of slave, this man must have been used to really harsh treatment. And he was clearly alone. If she and the others could team up with this alien, they all might make it to the academy alive. "Ah.. hello Anna, I am Nishikiy" red skinned alien answered, bowing his head in slight greeting, a habit from his time as slave. This very same idea played out in Nishikiy's head as well. Sounded like a plan. "Your offer is very kind. I would gladly...". The dark haired woman passed by, interrupting his trail of thought, and setting up a new plan in it's stead. His eyes narrowing slightly, the poison green eyes followed the petite figure as she made her way past the group without a word, disappearing in the hallway leading outdoors.

_That datapad had something in it, _zabrak thought silently, making his decision. To become sith, he'd need to gamble. He'd need to be bold, and independent, set himself past others to stand a chance. It was unlike what he'd been used to since birth, but then again, he had never truly felt "natural" in his actions. Now, facing oppotunity that most likely would end up killing him, he chose to act different. Turning to look at polite girl and her group, he gave her a small apologizing smile. "Ah, I am sorry but I think you wouldn't benefit from my presence. I am no fighter, and I am planning on simply outrunning the worms. You could not keep up". There was disappointment on girl's face at the loss of potential ally, but somehow she also seemed to appreciate his honesty. Nodding, she bid her farewell. "Ah.. Ok then, well, thanks for saying it. Someone else might had just used us as bait and ran away. I hope to see you again Nishi.. I don't know how your name is pronounced you know? Bye" she gave an embarrassed chuckle before turning to return to her group. "Don't worry about it. And I hope to see you guys in the academy as well, good luck" zabrak called after her, shaking his head slightly in amusement. He made a mental note about that "bait"-technique for future. He'd need to work on his mindset to become sith. Looking out for those around him and being polite... They did not exactly fit into the world he'd enter soon. Or at least he'd never heard of any "Darth Compassionate". Shrugging these thoughts off his mind, he turned to the door, beginning jogging forward towards the light that shone from outside.

The moment he got out of building, the dry, hot wind hit his features. Narrowing his eyes to cover them from flying sand, Nishikiy looked down from the platform he was standing at. The bridge-like stairs led down into canyon, and he could see couple of the acolytes slowly walking trough the dust and sand covered canyon towards the dark entrance of a tomb. It was made of great granite, a large doorway which must have once been sealed with just as large stone door. Ages ago. Hundreds if not thousands of acolytes had walked into the tomb, and zabrak could not help but wonder how many had stayed to inhabit the tomb alongside it's original residents. Spotting the girl he'd seen before now approaching the entrance, he took up running again. Unlike humans, zabraks were natural on dry and hot planets and their natural physique allowed jogging without spending very much energy. _If I am right, that woman might very well be my ticket to academy, _Nishikiy thought silently. Stopping to the door for a moment, woman took her time to look around, glancing at the databad once more, and then entered the tomb.

Few minutes later, Nishikiy reached gates as well. Stopping his run, he slowed down to a jog, then walk, stopping just by the entrance. The cool darkness greeted him from the inside, inviting him in with most uncomfortable manner. Shaking head with grim amusement, he taunted himself. "Well I always did wonder how bad it would had been to work at the spice mines...". Bracing for whatever might lurk inside, without weapon, just like everyone before him, he stepped into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Dark, dry and very _very _unnerving. Those were the words Nishikiy would had used to describe this environment he'd ventured into. The dark stone vaults, cold floors with some sort of roots crawling from the space between the floor tiles. Walls of these narrow hallways and corridors were covered with carvings of pained faces and statues which seemed to be struggling to hold the whole tomb above from collapsing onto the people forced to venture in these dreary paths.

The tall zabrak, a humanoid alien with dark red skin and small horns. A body build like a springy branch of a tree, strong, flexible. Or that was how Nishikiy usually thought of himself when seeing his own features. Right now however, on this hostile planet of Korriban, the home of Sith Order and forced to tread trough an old tomb of a warlord long since gone, he felt vulnerable, small and weak. _Fear. _That was it. Among the slaves, he'd been one of the strong, yet when facing his masters, Nishikiy had, like all around him, bend his knee in fear of death and punishment. Born a slave, wearing the shock collar since his birth, he knew fear. Or so he'd thought. This fear that surrounded him however was of different kind. It was not a person or idea. This place had "presence" unlike anything he'd ever felt. It was a kind of fear and awe he could not help but admire. Even in death, this old sith lord had greater effect on him than most of the living he'd ever met.

Shaking off the paranoia, man forced himself to focus on task at hand. With hasty steps, man followed his target, the person he believed had the key to surviving this place. He had nothing but one clue on tracking her in this tomb where darkness and many twists and turns made echoes, making it impossible to track by sound alone. But he had an alternative. Scent of a female. Despite the grim situation and surroundings, Nishikiy could not help but grin on the fact that he was tracking the sith acolyte ahead of him based on her scent. "But where are you going?" he asked from the darkness. It was clear from the twists and turns she was taking that she had a goal, but to him it appeared like she was not aiming for exit. This was suggested by the way she chose to venture deeper underground, crossing bridges over chasms and choosing staircases further into darkness. In the beginning, Nishikiy had tried to keep track of turns and way so he could return on his own if necessary, but after what he believed was 30 minutes in the darkness, he had given up on trying to memorize the path. He just did not have the brain for it.

Suddenly the path came to an end. Stopping on his tracks, Nishikiy halted his steps, staying by the doorway as the corridor opened into a large hall. The edges of room were filled with soldiers made of stone. Trough sculptures, yet the sheer amount of almost 40 of them made it impressive regardless. In the midst of it all, there was a platform and stairs leading up to it. And the short woman was climbing those ladders to the sarcophagus placed at top. With utmost carefulness to step silently, man sneaked closer, curiosity getting the better of him. The woman reached the large stone chest or sarcophagus, and crouching over it she leaned to reach for the bottom, forcing herself to stand on the tips of her toes to keep balance. The small devilish voice in zabrak's head made remark about the view she offered him without knowing, but it was silenced by more serious one, and the curiosity what was hidden there. Could it be some ancient sith artifact? Who was this woman who'd been given such map to this location?

Straightening up, the young woman pulled the out the item she'd been reaching for. A sort of disappointment flushed over Nishikiy at the sight of an old, but well kept vibroblade. A short sword, the length of blade approximately 60 cm, it was designed to be able to parry even a lightsaber. This weapon was the most common tool in training of sith in swordsmanship, and it was also part of equipment many soldiers were given as personal deflector shields had become common good in galactic warfare against the blasters. Of course it was far from the elegance and efficiency of a lightsaber, but then again it's cutting power and durability made it a formidable weapon in hands of an experienced fighter.

These details aside however, even if not an powerful artifact, this weapon very valuable in situation such as this. None of them had had any weapons upon entering, and now this woman possessed a working vibroblade. Or at least man assumed it was working, but so far as she wouldn't use it, he could not tell for certain. "So that is what I felt on my way down here..." The woman said out loud softly, turning towards Nishikiy's general direction. "... You were following me all the way here? Weren't you?" she asked, starting to walk down the stairs, the blade drawn, trailing her steps few centimeters off the ground. Cursing quietly, zabrak stepped away from the doorway and into the dim light of chamber. This had become extremely dangerous for him in matter of seconds, but he did not intend to run. Not yet at least. He had an ace up his sleeve which he was pretty certain the woman did not posses. "Indeed. You must have realized that even if most of us did not see overseer give you the chip, everyone did see you read the message in the darkness of the shuttle?" he replied, starting to slowly walk sideways, which caused the woman to stop her advancing.

Despite her boasting a weapon, it appeared the zabrak did not intend to run away? No, the way he moved suggested almost a duel. He was not backing off. If it was pride and foolishness, or a trick, she could not tell. "It doesn't matter if you people see or not. In this world there are no rules. Only the victor, and the dead" woman answered sternly, following zabrak into the circling was the way of the Sith. The strength above all. You'd hunger and crave for it, and you'd rise. You'd ignore it and it's call, and would be destroyed by those who'd use you as a stepping stone on their path to glory.

The two circled each other like lions baring their fangs, preparing to fight for their territory, their future. "My guess is that you intend to try out your new toy on my skin?" Nishikiy inquired with self irony from his foe. "I have heard your race is sturdier than most.. So you would make a decent try out, and a good start on ruling out competition" dark haired woman replied with velvet soft voice, a small chuckle escaping her lips at grim joke. Giving back a grin, man stopped walking around, collecting his thoughts, reaching into his past experience about the Force. He'd need it soon. "Alternatively, I could use that blade myself, and I've yet to experience killing a woman" he shot back at her. "You are not a screamer I hope? I have sensitive ears". Giving one last chuckle, the woman shook her head. "No, I am not. But I wonder if you'll be?".

It took Nishikiy a few seconds to grasp that she was attacking now, so fast were her movement. The first thing that alerted him was the hum of the vibroblade's cell activating, causing the blade to heat up in a second. As if carried by some unnatural might, petite woman charged on him, closing the distance before zabrak could react and slashing at him with strength and ferocity man wouldn't had guessed. Throwing himself to the side in less than gracious motion, he managed to dodge the rising horizontal slash. Hitting the stone floor with a slight grunt, he spun on his back to see the woman leaping at him again. Backing off with all speed he could muster, man got up, yet could not fully regain his posture due to the aggressive attacks of his enemy. Cursing under his breath, he took note on the look on her face. It was like she was in trance, the joy and excitement showing from her face. "Come on! You can do better than that!" She taunted him, stopping her own attacks for a moment. Catching a breath, Nishikiy finally managed to regain his posture and with a low growl, answered: "A bad call to give me room, woman...". Focusing on his screaming survival instinct and desire to wipe away the smirk on her face, he threw his hand towards her, reaching for her with his open palm and fingers. The scent of electricity and the static noise filled the hall as shock of lightning shot out of his hand, throwing alien's hand back with painful grow. Yet the bolt of hate-filled electricity had departed, and it hit the unsuspecting target with ferocity, tossing her back several meters and releasing a high pitched howl of pain from human as the shock ravaged her body. Shaking his head to cast away the sparkling stars and pain from his hand, Nishikiy shot forward, running for woman who was still crouching on ground, clutching herself as the aftershock shook her body. Yet still, the sword was firmly in her grip. With a shout, zabrak kicked woman's side. If lucky, the more fragile ribs of human body might not be able to take the pain and he could finish her off.

This was not the case however, and he realized his mistake as the girl's hand shot out, wrapping around his leg while her feet spun into air with a wild kick straight towards his lower stomach. Gasping as air left his lungs, zabrak collapsed on top of her, the two engaging in a tangling mess of hand and feet dead set on harming other person. Multiple hits were exchanged, yet none truly lethal due to the close proximity of combatants and lack of room to gather strength behind blows. And then the low, ground shaking growl caused both of them to freeze. "What... was... that?" The woman, currently pinned under larger zabrak male, asked. Both turning their eyes to the darkness of the doorway and the corridor, they smelled it. The inhumane stench of something's breath. And the silhouette which blocked the whole doorway. "Is that what they call... Sithspawn?" woman asked, recalling old tales about horrors of Korriban. "That, or it is the descendant of tomb owner's pet.." the man answered with a mere whisper, observing how the enormous creature which seemed to consist of spikes and teeth only entered the room. The two looked at each other, their eyes saying same. They couldn't care less for their earlier fight right now. "I am Nishikiy and I wish to have a temporary alliance with you and your sword". The woman nodded without hesitation. They could try killing each other later. "Numini. Now get off me before that thing eats us". That was the beginning of an very odd and eventful friendship.


End file.
